K9 Hero: Rescue Dog Finds Missing Autistic Boy Standing in a Creek

Deputies said things could have been much worse for a missing autistic child if their K9 hadn’t been able to track him down.

They found that 8-year-old boy standing in the middle of a creek, surrounded by difficult terrain. Deputies said without their K9, they don’t know how long he might have been there before someone found him.

“It was very thick. It was up to my waist at least with sticker bushes, downed trees and downed limbs,” Deputy Danny Dipietro said.

But it’s exactly where Maverick’s nose led him.

“I put Maverick down there, and he just took off,” Dipietro said.

Less than 20 minutes later, Maverick, Dipietro’s K9, led him to the missing child who was knee-deep in Ward Creek playing in the water.